Visualizing query results to improve quality of subsequent searches

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for improving the quality of subsequent searches. A request is received from a user to perform a search using the term(s) provided by the user. A search is then performed using the provided term(s). A representation of the search result is depicted as an area (e.g., bubble) with terms of interest displayed outside the area. The area represents a set of documents that were found in the performed search and the terms of interest represent terms that may be of interest to the user based on this set of documents. These terms of interest may be selected by the user to adjust the search result. In this manner, the user is presented with an intuitive view as to how different terms or different searches will have an impact on the search results thereby improving the quality of subsequent searches.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to searching for information,and more particularly to visualizing query results to improve thequality of subsequent searches.

BACKGROUND

Oftentimes, people perform keyword searches to identify information,such as performing a keyword search on a web search engine (e.g.,Google®) to search for information on the World Wide Web. Often, thesekeyword searches involve entering one or more terms of interest (e.g.,weather, Detroit) directed to a subject of interest, such as the weatherin the city of Detroit. The search results are generated simply based onthe term(s) entered by the user, where the results are typically thosethat include one or more of the terms entered by the user.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for improving thequality of subsequent searches comprises receiving a first request toperform a first search using one or more provided terms. The methodfurther comprises performing the first search using the one or moreprovided terms. The method additionally comprises depicting, by aprocessor, a first representation of a first search result of the firstsearch as a first area with a first set of terms of interest of thefirst search result displayed outside the first area.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a search system configured in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of a client deviceconfigured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a hardware configuration of a search systemconfigured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A-4B are a flowchart of a method for providing an intuitive viewas to how different terms or different searches will have an impact onthe search results in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates depicting an area on the display of the client devicerepresenting a search result along with terms of interest beingdisplayed outside the area in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates selecting a term of interest in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates depicting an area on the display of the client devicerepresenting a search result using the selected term of interest inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates adjusting the search result by performing the logicaloperation of OR on the set of prior search terms with the selected termof interest by the user dragging and dropping the area representing thesearch result of the selected term of interest into the arearepresenting the prior search result in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates depicting areas on the display of the client devicerepresenting the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were added fromthe OR logical operation that includes terms of interest for the set ofdocuments in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates adjusting the search result by performing thelogical operation of AND on the set of prior search terms with theselected term of interest by the user selecting an overlapping region ofthe area representing the search result of the selected term of interestand the area representing the prior search result in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates depicting areas on the display of the client devicerepresenting the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were removedfrom the AND logical operation that includes terms of interest for theset of documents as well as illustrates adjusting the search result byperforming the logical operation of NOT on the set of prior search termswith the selected term of interest by the user dragging out the arearepresenting the search result of the selected term of interest inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates depicting areas on the display of the client devicerepresenting the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were removedfrom the NOT logical operation that includes terms of interest for theset of documents in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for expanding the number of terms ofinterest displayed in the region in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 14 illustrates expanding the number of terms displayed in theregion in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for improving the quality of subsequent searches. In oneembodiment of the present invention, a request is received from a userto perform a search using the term(s) provided by the user. A search isthen performed using the provided term(s). A representation of thesearch result is depicted on the display of the user's client device asan area (e.g., bubble, circle) with terms of interest (e.g., “bird,“room,” “ambulance,” “Tokyo”) displayed outside the area. The arearepresents a set of documents (e.g., web pages, articles, presentations)that were found in the performed search and the terms of interestrepresent terms that may be of interest to the user based on this set ofdocuments. The terms of interest may include any of the following: termswith high or low correlation to the current result set, high frequencyterms in the current result set, synonyms of the current query terms andfacet values (e.g., geographic locations, file types). Upon the userselecting a term of interest, an area (e.g., bubble) may appearindicating the search result set for that term. The user may thenperform an operation on this area, such as dragging it to the arearepresenting the prior search result, to perform a query operation(e.g., OR logical operation) using the selected term of interest and theprior search terms to generate a new search result. A region is thendepicted on the display of the user's client device between the areasrepresenting the previous and current search results representing a setof documents that is the difference between the previous and currentsearch results, where the region includes new terms of interest for thatset of documents. In this manner, the user is presented with anintuitive view as to how different terms or different searches will havean impact on the search results thereby improving the quality ofsubsequent searches.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Referring now to the Figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates a searchsystem 100 for performing searches (e.g., performing a keyword search ona web search engine to search for information on the World Wide Web)configured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 1, search system 100 includes a user using a clientdevice 101 connected to a search system 102 via a network 103. Clientdevice 101 may be a portable computing unit, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, anavigation device, a game console, a desktop computer system, aworkstation, an Internet appliance and the like. It is noted that bothclient device 101 and the user of client device 101 may be identifiedwith element number 101. A hardware configuration of client device 101is provided below in connection with FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, network 103 may be, for example, a local areanetwork, a wide area network, a wireless wide area network, acircuit-switched telephone network, a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) network, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)network, a WiFi network, an IEEE 802.11 standards network, variouscombinations thereof, etc. Other networks, whose descriptions areomitted here for brevity, may also be used in conjunction with system100 of FIG. 1 without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Search system 102 is configured to perform searches for informationusing terms provided by a user of client device 101. For example, searchsystem 102 is configured to perform a search on the World Wide Web usingthe term(s) provided by the user of client device 101. A description ofthe hardware configuration of search system 102 is provided below inconnection with FIG. 3.

System 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular networkarchitecture. System 100 may include any number of client devices 101,search systems 102 and networks 103.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration ofclient device 101 (FIG. 1) which is representative of a hardwareenvironment for practicing the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2,client device 101 has a processor 201 coupled to various othercomponents by system bus 202. An operating system 203 runs on processor201 and provides control and coordinates the functions of the variouscomponents of FIG. 2. An application 204 in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention runs in conjunction with operatingsystem 203 and provides calls to operating system 203 where the callsimplement the various functions or services to be performed byapplication 204. Application 204 may include, for example, a web browserfor requesting searches to be performed by search system 102 asdiscussed further below in connection with FIGS. 4A-4B and 5-14.

Referring again to FIG. 2, read-only memory (“ROM”) 205 is coupled tosystem bus 202 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of client device 101. Random accessmemory (“RAM”) 206 and disk adapter 207 are also coupled to system bus202. It should be noted that software components including operatingsystem 203 and application 204 may be loaded into RAM 206, which may beclient device's 101 main memory for execution. Disk adapter 207 may bean integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) adapter that communicates with adisk unit 208, e.g., disk drive.

Client device 101 may further include a communications adapter 209coupled to bus 202. Communications adapter 209 interconnects bus 202with an outside network (e.g., network 103 of FIG. 1) thereby enablingclient device 101 to communicate with other devices (e.g., search system102 of FIG. 1).

I/O devices may also be connected to client device 101 via a userinterface adapter 210 and a display adapter 211. Keyboard 212, mouse 213and speaker 214 may all be interconnected to bus 202 through userinterface adapter 210. A display monitor 215 may be connected to systembus 202 by display adapter 211. In this manner, a user is capable ofinputting to client device 101 through keyboard 212 or mouse 213 andreceiving output from client device 101 via display 215 or speaker 214.Other input mechanisms may be used to input data to client device 101that are not shown in FIG. 2, such as display 215 having touch-screencapability and keyboard 212 being a virtual keyboard. Client device 101of FIG. 2 is not to be limited in scope to the elements depicted in FIG.2 and may include fewer or additional elements than depicted in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 illustrates a hardware configuration ofsearch system 102 (FIG. 1), which is representative of a hardwareenvironment for practicing the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3,search system 102 has a processor 301 coupled to various othercomponents by system bus 302. An operating system 303 runs on processor301 and provides control and coordinates the functions of the variouscomponents of FIG. 3. An application 304 in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention runs in conjunction with operatingsystem 303 and provides calls to operating system 303 where the callsimplement the various functions or services to be performed byapplication 304. Application 304 may include, for example, a program forimproving the quality of subsequent searches as discussed further belowin association with FIGS. 4A-4B and 5-14.

Referring again to FIG. 3, read-only memory (“ROM”) 305 is coupled tosystem bus 302 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of search system 102. Random accessmemory (“RAM”) 306 and disk adapter 307 are also coupled to system bus302. It should be noted that software components including operatingsystem 303 and application 304 may be loaded into RAM 306, which may besearch system's 102 main memory for execution. Disk adapter 307 may bean integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) adapter that communicates with adisk unit 308, e.g., disk drive. It is noted that the program forimproving the quality of subsequent searches, as discussed further belowin association with FIGS. 4A-4B and 5-14, may reside in disk unit 308 orin application 304.

Search system 102 may further include a communications adapter 309coupled to bus 302. Communications adapter 309 interconnects bus 302with an outside network (e.g., network 103 of FIG. 1) thereby allowingsearch system 102 to communicate with client device 101.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

As stated in the Background section, oftentimes, people perform keywordsearches to identify information, such as performing a keyword search ona web search engine (e.g., Google®) to search for information on theWorld Wide Web. Often, these keyword searches involve entering one ormore terms of interest (e.g., weather, Detroit) directed to a subject ofinterest, such as the weather in the city of Detroit. The search resultsare generated simply based on the term(s) entered by the user, where theresults are typically those that include one or more of the termsentered by the user.

At times though, the user may have more of an interest in thedifferences in the search results between a prior search and a currentsearch which involved different term(s). For example, the user may haveentered the terms of “car” and “accident” in a first search and theterms “motorcycle” and “accident” in a second search. The user may bemore interested in the differences in the search results between thesesearches rather than simply being provided the results of the secondsearch.

Currently, the user is required to enter terms without prior knowledgeof how these terms relate to the current search result. That is, theuser does not have knowledge as to how each of these terms will have animpact on the search result.

As a result, the user does not currently have an intuitive view of howdifferent terms or different searches will have an impact on the searchresults.

The principles of the present invention provide a means for providing anintuitive view as to how different terms or different searches will havean impact on the search results thereby improving the quality ofsubsequent searches as discussed below in connection with FIGS. 4A-4Band 5-14. FIGS. 4A-4B are a flowchart of a method for providing anintuitive view as to how different terms or different searches will havean impact on the search results. FIG. 5 illustrates depicting an area onthe display of the client device representing a search result along withterms of interest being displayed outside the area. FIG. 6 illustratesselecting a term of interest. FIG. 7 illustrates depicting an area onthe display of the client device representing a search result using theselected term of interest. FIG. 8 illustrates adjusting the searchresult by performing the logical operation of OR on the set of priorsearch terms with the selected term of interest by the user dragging anddropping the area representing the search result of the selected term ofinterest into the area representing the prior search result. FIG. 9illustrates depicting areas on the display of the client devicerepresenting the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were added fromthe OR logical operation that includes terms of interest for the set ofdocuments. FIG. 10 illustrates adjusting the search result by performingthe logical operation of AND on the set of prior search terms with theselected term of interest by the user selecting an overlapping region ofthe area representing the search result of the selected term of interestand the area representing the prior search result. FIG. 11 illustratesdepicting areas on the display of the client device representing theprevious and current search results as well as a region between theareas representing the set of documents that were removed from the ANDlogical operation that includes terms of interest for the set ofdocuments as well as illustrates adjusting the search result byperforming the logical operation of NOT on the set of prior search termswith the selected term of interest by the user dragging out the arearepresenting the search result of the selected term of interest. FIG. 12illustrates depicting areas on the display of the client devicerepresenting the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were removedfrom the NOT logical operation that includes terms of interest for theset of documents. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for expanding thenumber of terms of interest displayed in the region. FIG. 14 illustratesexpanding the number of terms displayed in the region.

As stated above, FIGS. 4A-4B are a flowchart of a method 400 forproviding an intuitive view as to how different terms or differentsearches will have an impact on the search results in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4A, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, in step 401, searchsystem 102 receives a request from user 101 to perform a search usingterm(s) provided by user 101. For example, user 101 may have providedthe terms “”car,” “accident” and “file” to search system 102 to be usedby search system 102 to conduct its search, such as on the World WideWeb.

In step 402, search system 102 performs the search request using theterm(s) provided by user 101.

In step 403, a determination is made by search system 102 as to whethera previous search has been performed.

If a pervious search has not been performed, then, in step 404, searchsystem 102 depicts a representation of the search result as an area(e.g., bubble, circle) with terms of interest (e.g., “bird, “room,”“ambulance,” “Tokyo”) displayed outside the area as shown in FIG. 5. Inone embodiment, the area representing the search result represents a setof documents (e.g., web pages, articles, presentations) that were foundin the performed search. In one embodiment, user 101 can access the setof documents by selecting the area representing the search result. Inone embodiment, the visual representation shown in FIG. 5 is generatedand displayed on the screen (e.g., display monitor 215) of client device101 by search system 102.

FIG. 5 illustrates depicting an area 501 on display 215 of client device101 representing a search result along with terms of interest beingdisplayed outside the area in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 5, area 501 represents the searchresult of the search performed using the terms “accident,” “car,” and“file type PDF” for a user interested in looking for reports on caraccidents. In one embodiment, area 501 represents the set of documentsthat were found in the search performed using the terms provided by user101. In one embodiment, user 101 can access the set of the documents byselecting area 501, such as by selecting area 501 via mouse 213.

In one embodiment, the search was performed using the AND logicaloperation on the terms “accident,” “car,” and “file type PDF” (shown inthe search string of “accident AND car AND filetype:pdf”) as shown inFIG. 5. As also illustrated in FIG. 5, terms of interest to the searchare displayed outside area 501, such as the terms “bird,” “room,”“ambulance,” and “Tokyo.” Terms of interest, as used herein, may includeany of the following: terms with high or low correlation to the currentresult set, high frequency terms in the current result set, synonyms ofthe current query terms and facet values (e.g., geographic locations,file types).

Returning to FIG. 4A, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and 5, in step 405,a determination is made by search system 102 as to whether user 101selected one of the depicted terms of interest. That is, search system102 determines whether it received a selection of one of the depictedterms of interest from user 101. In one embodiment, a term of interestis selected by user 101 tapping or clicking the term of interest, suchas via mouse 213, as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 illustrates selecting a term of interest in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. As show in FIG. 6, the term“ambulance” is selected (see arrow 601) by user 101.

Returning to FIG. 4A, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and 5-6, if one ofthe depicted terms of interest is selected by user 101, then, in step406, search system 102 performs a search using the selected term ofinterest.

In step 407, search system 102 depicts an area (e.g., bubble, circle)representing the search result of the search using the selected term ofinterest as shown in FIG. 7. In one embodiment, the area represents aset of documents (e.g., web pages, articles, presentations) that werefound in the performed search. In one embodiment, user 101 can accessthe set of documents by selecting the area representing the searchresult. In one embodiment, the visual representation shown in FIG. 7 isgenerated and displayed on the screen (e.g., display monitor 215) ofclient device 101 by search system 102.

FIG. 7 illustrates depicting an area 701 on display 215 of client device101 representing a search result using the selected term of interest inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As illustratedin FIG. 7, area 701 represents the search result of the search performusing the selected term of interest (e.g., “ambulance”). In oneembodiment, area 701 represents the set of documents that were found inthe search performed using the selected term of interest (e.g.,“ambulance”). In one embodiment, user 101 can access the set of thedocuments by selecting area 701, such as by selecting area 701 via mouse213.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and 5-7, in step408, a determination is made by search system 102 as to whether itreceived an indication to adjust the search result with the selectedterm. There are many ways that user 101 can indicate to adjust thesearch result by performing a subsequent search, such as by indicatingto perform the logical operation of OR, AND or NOT using the selectedterm of interest and the terms used to conduct the prior search. Theprinciples of the present invention are not to be limited in scope tosuch logical operations and may include any logical operation that couldbe performed to adjust the prior search results.

In one embodiment, user 101 may indicate to perform the logicaloperation discussed above in many ways, such as by dragging and droppingthe area representing the search result of the selected term of interestinto the area representing the prior search result, selecting anoverlapping region of the area representing the search result of theselected term of interest with the area representing the prior searchresult or dragging out the area representing the search result of theselected term of interest as discussed further below. Each of theseparticular actions may uniquely indicate to perform a particular logicaloperation (e.g., logical AND operation). The principles of the presentinvention are not to be limited in scope to any particular manner (e.g.,dragging and dropping) for indicating to search system 102 to adjust theprior search result by a performing a particular logical operation withthe selected term of interest and the terms used in the prior searchresult. The principles of the present invention may utilize any mannerfor providing such an indication.

If search system 102 did not receive an indication to adjust the searchresult with the selected term, then a determination is made by searchsystem 102 as to whether user 101 selected one of the depicted terms ofinterest in step 405.

If, however, search system 102 received an indication to adjust thesearch result with the selected term, then, in step 409, search system102 performs a subsequent search that adjusts the prior search result byperforming a logical operation, AND, OR or NOT, on the set of priorsearch terms with the selected term of interest by user 101 performingan operation on the area representing the search result of the selectedterm in connection with the area representing the prior search result.

In step 410, search system 102 depicts a region, such as on display 215of client device 101, between the areas representing the previous andcurrent search results, where the region represents a set of documentsthat is the difference between the previous and current search resultsand includes new terms of interest for that set of documents.

After depicting a region between the areas representing the previous andcurrent search results, where the region represents a set of documentsthat is the difference between the previous and current search results,a determination is made by search system 102 as to whether user 101selected one of the depicted terms of interest in step 405.

Examples discussing steps 409 and 410 are now provided below.

Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 illustrates adjusting the search result byperforming the logical operation of OR on the set of prior search termswith the selected term of interest by the user dragging and dropping thearea representing the search result of the selected term of interestinto the area representing the prior search result in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 8, user 101indicates to perform the logical OR operation by dragging and droppingarea 701 into area 501. That is, user 101 indicates to perform thelogical OR operation using the selected term of interest “ambulance”with the terms used in the prior search result (e.g., “accident,” “car,”and “file type PDF”). In particular, as shown in FIG. 8, search system102 will perform the logical OR operation of the term “ambulance” withthe logical AND operation of the terms “accident, “car,” and “file typePDF” (as shown in the search string “accident AND car AND filetype:pdfOR ambulance” in FIG. 9).

FIG. 9 illustrates depicting areas on display 215 of client device 101representing the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were added fromthe OR logical operation that includes terms of interest for the set ofdocuments in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 9, the search results of performing the logical ORoperation using the selected term of interest “ambulance” with the termsused in the prior search result is depicted as area 901 (see searchstring “accident AND car AND filetype:pdf OR ambulance”). As also shownin FIG. 9, the previous search result is depicted as well (see area 501which was previously discussed in connection with FIG. 5). In oneembodiment, user 101 can access the set of documents represented byareas 501, 901 by selecting area 501, 901, such as by selecting area501, 901 via mouse 213. In one embodiment, the visual representationshown in FIG. 9 is generated and displayed on the screen (e.g., displaymonitor 215) of client device 101 by search system 102.

FIG. 9 further illustrates a region 902 between areas 501, 901representing the set of documents that were added from the OR logicaloperation that includes the terms of interest (e.g., “911,” “heartattack,” and “ambulance”) for that set of documents. In one embodiment,user 101 can access the set of documents represented by region 902 byselecting region 902, such as via mouse 213.

In another example, referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 illustrates adjustingthe search result by performing the logical operation of AND on the setof prior search terms with the selected term of interest by the userselecting an overlapping region of the area representing the searchresult of the selected term of interest and the area representing theprior search result in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 10, user 101 selects the term ofinterest of “Tokyo” which results in search system 102 depicting an area1001 representing the search result using the term of “Tokyo.” FIG. 10further illustrates user 101 indicating to perform the logical ANDoperation by selecting an overlapping region 1002 of area 901 and area1001. That is, user 101 indicates to perform the logical AND operationusing the selected term of interest “Tokyo” with the terms used in theprior search result (e.g., “accident,” “car,” “file type PDF,” and“ambulance”). In particular, as shown in FIG. 10, search system 102 willperform the logical AND operation of the term “Tokyo” with the previousconducted search (“accident AND car AND filetype:pdf OR ambulance”).

FIG. 11 illustrates depicting areas on display 215 of client device 101representing the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were removedfrom the AND logical operation that includes terms of interest for theset of documents in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 11, the search result of performing thelogical AND operation using the selected term of interest “Tokyo” withthe terms used in the prior search result is depicted as area 1101 (seesearch string “accident AND car AND filetype:pdf OR ambulance ANDTokyo”). As also shown in FIG. 11, the previous search result isdepicted as well (see area 901 which was previously discussed inconnection with FIG. 9). In one embodiment, user 101 can access the setof documents represented by areas 901, 1101 by selecting area 901, 1101,such as via mouse 213. In one embodiment, the visual representationshown in FIG. 11 is generated and displayed on the screen (e.g., displaymonitor 215) of client device 101 by search system 102.

FIG. 11 further illustrates a region 1102 between areas 901, 1101representing the set of documents that were removed from the AND logicaloperation that includes the terms of interest (e.g., “New York,”“Germany,” and “miles”) for that set of documents. In one embodiment,user 101 can access the set of documents represented by region 1102 byselecting region 1102, such as via mouse 213.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, region 902, including the terms ofinterest for the set of documents associated with that region, is alsodepicted.

In another example, referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 further illustratesadjusting the search result by performing the logical operation of NOTon the set of prior search terms with the selected term of interest bythe user dragging out the area representing the search result of theselected term of interest in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 11, user 101 selects the term ofinterest of “heart attack” which results in search system 102 depictingan area 1103 (e.g., bubble, circle) representing the search result usingthe term of “heart attack.” As further illustrated in FIG. 11, user 101indicates to perform the logical NOT operation by dragging out area1103.

FIG. 12 illustrates depicting areas on display 215 of client device 101representing the previous and current search results as well as a regionbetween the areas representing the set of documents that were removedfrom the NOT logical operation that includes terms of interest for theset of documents in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 12, the search result of performing thelogical NOT operation using the selected term of interest “heart attack”with the terms used in the prior search result is depicted as area 1201(see search string “accident AND car AND filetype:pdf OR ambulance ANDTokyo NOT heart attack”). As also shown in FIG. 12, the previous searchresult is depicted as well (see area 1101 which was previously discussedin connection with FIG. 11). In one embodiment, user 101 can access theset of documents represented by areas 1101, 1201 by selecting area 1101,1201, such as via mouse 213. In one embodiment, the visualrepresentation shown in FIG. 12 is generated and displayed on the screen(e.g., display monitor 215) of client device 101 by search system 102.

FIG. 12 further illustrates a region 1202 between areas 1101, 1201representing the set of documents that were removed from the NOT logicaloperation that includes the terms of interest (e.g., “heart attack,”“hospital,” “surgery,” and “doctor”) for that set of documents. In oneembodiment, user 101 can access the set of documents represented byregion 1202 by selecting region 1202, such as via mouse 213.

Returning to step 403 of FIG. 4A, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and5-12, as discussed above, a determination is made by search system 102as to whether a previous search has been performed.

If a previous search was performed, then, in step 411 search system 102depicts the representations of the previous and current search resultsas two areas (e.g., areas 501, 901) such as shown in FIGS. 9-12discussed above.

In step 412, search system 102 determines a set of documents that is thedifference between the two searches as shown in FIGS. 9-12 discussedabove.

In step 413, search system 102 depicts a region (e.g., region 902)representing the set of documents that includes terms of interest forthat set of documents as shown in FIGS. 9-12 discussed above.

Upon depicting a region representing the set of documents that includesterms of interest for that set of documents, a determination is made bysearch system 102 as to whether user 101 selected one of the depictedterms of interest in step 405.

If user 101 did not select one of the depicted terms of interest, then,in step 414, a determination is made by search system 102 as to whetherit received a subsequent search request from user 101.

If search system 102 received a subsequent search request from user 101,then, in step 415, search system 102 performs the subsequent searchrequest and then depicts the representations of the previous and currentsearch results as two areas in step 411 as shown in FIGS. 9-12 discussedabove.

If, however, search system 102 did not receive a subsequent searchrequest from user 101, then a determination is made by search system 102as to whether user 101 selected one of the depicted terms of interest instep 405.

The number of terms of interest that are depicted for user 101 may beincreased or decreased as discussed below in connection with FIGS.13-14.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method 1300 for expanding the number ofterms of interest displayed in the region in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and 5-12, in step1301, a determination is made by search system 102 as to whether itreceived an indication to alter the number of terms of interestdisplayed in a region (e.g., region 1202).

If search system 102 did not receive an indication to alter the numberof terms of interest displayed in the region, then search system 102continues to determine whether it received an indication to alter thenumber of terms of interest displayed in the region in step 1301.

If, however, search system 102 received an indication to alter thenumber of terms of interest displayed in a region, then, in step 1302,search system 102 alters the number of terms of interest displayed inthe region as shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 illustrates expanding the number of terms displayed in theregion in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 14, in conjunction with FIG. 12, FIG. 14 illustratesuser 101 dragging an area 1201 outward as shown by arrow 1401 so as toexpand the number of terms displayed in region 1202. As a result of user101 dragging area 1201 outward, new terms, such as “cardiomyopathy” and“CPR,” are now displayed in area 1202 thereby providing user 101 moreterms of interest to select.

Alternatively, user 102 may decrease the number of terms displayed in aregion, such as region 1202, by dragging an area, such as area 1201,inward.

Using the principles of the present invention discussed herein, the useris presented with an intuitive view as to how different terms ordifferent searches will have an impact on the search results therebyimproving the quality of subsequent searches.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A computer program product for improving the qualityof subsequent searches, the computer program product comprising acomputer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith,the program code comprising the programming instructions for: receivinga first request to perform a first search using one or more providedterms; performing said first search using said one or more providedterms; and depicting a first representation of a first search result ofsaid first search as a first area with a first set of terms of interestof said first search result displayed outside said first area.
 10. Thecomputer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the program codefurther comprises the programming instructions for: receiving aselection of one of said first set of terms of interest displayedoutside said first area; performing a second search using said selectedterm of interest in response to receiving said selection of said term ofinterest; depicting a second representation of a second search result ofsaid second search using said selected term of interest as a secondarea; and performing a third search forming a third search result byperforming a logical operation on said one or more provided terms withsaid selected term of interest in response to a user performing anoperation on said second area in connection with said first area. 11.The computer program product as recited in claim 10, wherein the programcode further comprises the programming instructions for: depicting aregion between said first and second areas representing a set ofdocuments that is the difference between said first and third searchresults in response to performing said third search, wherein said regionincludes new terms of interest for said set of documents.
 12. Thecomputer program product as recited in claim 10, wherein said logicaloperation is performed in response to said user preforming an operationselected from the group consisting of: dragging and dropping said secondarea into said first area, selecting an overlapping region of said firstarea and said second area and dragging out said second area.
 13. Thecomputer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein said first setof terms of interest is selected from the group consisting of at leastone of: correlated terms in connection with said first search result,high frequency terms in connection with said first search result,synonyms of said one or more provided terms and facet values.
 14. Thecomputer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the program codefurther comprises the programming instructions for: depicting a secondrepresentation of a previous search result as a second area in responseto a previous search being performed.
 15. The computer program productas recited in claim 14, wherein the program code further comprises theprogramming instructions for: depicting a region between said first andsecond areas representing a set of documents that is the differencebetween said previous search result and said first search result,wherein said region includes terms of interest for said set ofdocuments.
 16. The computer program product as recited in claim 15,wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructionsfor: altering a number of terms of interest depicted in said region inresponse to a user dragging one of said first and second areas inward oroutward.
 17. A system, comprising: a memory unit for storing a computerprogram for improving the quality of subsequent searches; and aprocessor coupled to the memory unit, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute the program instructions of the computer programcomprising: receiving a first request to perform a first search usingone or more provided terms; performing said first search using said oneor more provided terms; and depicting a first representation of a firstsearch result of said first search as a first area with a first set ofterms of interest of said first search result displayed outside saidfirst area.
 18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the programinstructions of the computer program further comprise: receiving aselection of one of said first set of terms of interest displayedoutside said first area; performing a second search using said selectedterm of interest in response to receiving said selection of said term ofinterest; depicting a second representation of a second search result ofsaid second search using said selected term of interest as a secondarea; and performing a third search forming a third search result byperforming a logical operation on said one or more provided terms withsaid selected term of interest in response to a user performing anoperation on said second area in connection with said first area. 19.The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the program instructions ofthe computer program further comprise: depicting a region between saidfirst and second areas representing a set of documents that is thedifference between said first and third search results in response toperforming said third search, wherein said region includes new terms ofinterest for said set of documents.
 20. The system as recited in claim18, wherein said logical operation is performed in response to said userpreforming an operation selected from the group consisting of: draggingand dropping said second area into said first area, selecting anoverlapping region of said first area and said second area and draggingout said second area.
 21. The system as recited in claim 17, whereinsaid first set of terms of interest is selected from the groupconsisting of at least one of: correlated terms in connection with saidfirst search result, high frequency terms in connection with said firstsearch result, synonyms of said one or more provided terms and facetvalues.
 22. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the programinstructions of the computer program further comprise: depicting asecond representation of a previous search result as a second area inresponse to a previous search being performed.
 23. The system as recitedin claim 22, wherein the program instructions of the computer programfurther comprise: depicting a region between said first and second areasrepresenting a set of documents that is the difference between saidprevious search result and said first search result, wherein said regionincludes terms of interest for said set of documents.
 24. The system asrecited in claim 23, wherein the program instructions of the computerprogram further comprise: altering a number of terms of interestdepicted in said region in response to a user dragging one of said firstand second areas inward or outward.